Sam Burns opening round 67 (-5) marks his low 18-hole score in 13 rounds at Augusta National and also marks his lowest opening-round in a major championship (23rd major championship appearance). After Day One at The Masters he shares the lead with defending champion Rory McIlroy. It was Rory’s third sub 70 opening round at Augusta. Rory is hoping to join Jack Nicklaus (1956, 1965), Nick Faldo (1989, 1990) and Tiger Woods (2001, 2002) as players to successfully defend their title at the Masters.

Of the 108 invitees, 91 players started the 2026 Masters Tournament, including 22 first-time competitors.

TOURNAMENT NOTES:

Kurt Kitayama (T3/-3) joins Sam Burns as the only two players at 2-under or better yet to win a major championship.

In his 50th round at the Masters Tournament, Australia’s Jason Day (T3/-3) notches his 11th round in the 60s at Augusta National.

Patrick Reed (T3/-3) becomes the sixth player to start birdie-eagle in the first round at the Masters Tournament; most recent: Sam Burns and Sam Bennett, both in 2023

Four major champions sit T6 at 2-under: Shane Lowry, Xander Schauffele, Justin Rose and Scottie Scheffler, who extends his streak of six opening-round scores of 70 or higher in his last six starts on TOUR

Jacob Bridgeman (T10/-1) is the best of 22 first-time competitors following the first round, one stroke ahead of fellow first-time competitors Kristoffer Reitan, Ryan Gerard, Sam Stevens, Michael Brennan, Ben Griffin and Chris Gotterup, the only player with multiple victories on TOUR this season (Sony Open in Hawaii, WM Phoenix Open)

In 18 of the last 20 Masters Tournaments, the eventual champion sat among the top 10 on the leaderboard following the completion of the first round – the only exception was Tiger Woods (T11/2019) and Rory McIlroy (T27/2025).

Other Aussies in the field; Adam Scott (E), Cameron Smith (+2) and Min Woo Lee (+6)

First-Round Leaderboard
 

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